Daniel Westerhaus, a partner in a GarbageMan franchise, picks up trash from an East Side neighborhood in St. Paul on August 21, 2013. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

Garbage collectors like to joke that the dirtiest thing about their business isn't the garbage -- it's the business itself.

"It's dog-eat-dog out there for these guys," industry analyst James Thompson said.

And for a small upstart like Plymouth-based GarbageMan, it can be tough to compete with corporate giants Waste Management and Republic Services, which dominate the roughly $57 billion industry nationwide.

But after five years in business, GarbageMan serves roughly 70,000 households in 40 markets across Minnesota, Colorado and South Dakota. Its revenue has grown more than 2,000 percent in the past three years.

That kind of growth hasn't come without a fight. Each of those customers had to be wrestled away from a typically larger competitor.

In His Own Words: Andy Sorensen

On the importance of franchising to his company s growth: "You can grow as much as you want, but if your operation can't keep up, it's all for nothing. ... If we tried to set up all of these routes as corporate operations, we wouldn't be able to handle it. Partnering with a local hauler allows us to expand without spreading ourselves too thin."

On market research: "It's been important for us to do the front-end research, so we know when we move into a city whether our model will hold up. ... It costs money. There's a lot of work that goes into it. Sometimes we spend a lot of time on an area and it doesn't pan out. ... I'd much rather spend that money up front to find out that it wasn't going to work than find out after spending the money to set up an operation."

On competition in the garbage collection industry: "I've run a few businesses and they've all been pretty competitive. But this is an industry where every customer we get all those customers are already being serviced by somebody. ... The more you're growing, the more attention you'll get from competitors. We deal with that as best we can."

And rather than shy away from its larger rivals, GarbageMan targets the cities where they're the strongest.

"We look for a market that's dominated by the national haulers," GarbageMan CEO Andy Sorensen said. "If it's already dominated by smaller independents, there's no reason for us to go there. We don't compete well with independents."

The strategy instead is to partner with one of these smaller local companies -- either through a licensing agreement or by turning them into a GarbageMan franchise.

"The local aspect is important," Thompson said. "That's where the smaller guys can have an advantage." Sorensen says GarbageMan's partners benefit from the company's "back office efficiencies," such as their call center and sales team.

Once GarbageMan has established a foothold, the company picks off customers from their larger competitors using aggressive door-to-door sales tactics and an emphasis on going green.

Sorensen founded GarbageMan with three partners in 2008. They started with a single route in Maple Grove that they built from scratch. In those days, Sorensen himself was pitching the service to homeowners.

"I had a lot of doors slammed in my face," he said, adding that it took the company nine months to sign its first 1,000 customers.

After about a year in business, the company's revenue reached nearly $420,000, and they had expanded into Brooklyn Park.

But to expand further, Sorensen and his partners knew they needed help. While they were confident they could attract new customers, financing that growth was out of the question. "That was our limiting factor," Sorensen said.

But in 2010, the company began partnering with other garbage collectors through franchising and licensing agreements, which allowed them to grow faster than they ever could on their own.

"When you start a company from scratch, it can take up to three years to get to 3,000 customers," Sorensen said. "But when you partner with a local hauler, you can be there in three months."

With annual revenue now approaching $9 million, that model seems to be working.

This summer, the company invaded Sioux Falls, S.D., working with Salem, S.D.-based R&S Sanitation. Despite complaints from incumbent haulers -- and the occasional homeowner -- about their sales tactics, they've recruited some 5,000 customers.

"I think you could send Gandhi or Mother Teresa door to door and you'd have the same complaints," Sorensen said. "If there was a more effective way, I'd use it."

They expect to have as many as 8,500 customers in Sioux Falls by this time next year -- an expectation informed by the careful canvassing the company did before moving into the city.

"It's not a guessing game for us," Sorensen said. "We do the research, and then we send a team into the field. We'll go on garbage day and count the cans on the street, so we know who has what as far as market share."

And they've handed out gasoline gift cards to homeowners in targeted communities in exchange for a look at the customer's monthly trash collection bill. This gives them an idea of how low they'll have to set their prices.

If they don't see an opening in a given market, they move on.

But they don't just compete on price. Sorensen also touts GarbageMan's focus on greening up the garbage industry.

Unlike many companies, GarbageMan doesn't sell a "garbage only" pickup service -- all of their packages include a recycling component.

"That's a different philosophy than just digging a hole and filling it," Sorensen said.

He added that GarbageMan has an added incentive to reduce waste; since the company doesn't own a landfill, it has to pay its competitors to dump trash in theirs.

Even their trucks are designed to be more environmentally friendly. Smaller than the standard garbage truck, Sorensen says they require less fuel and are easier on the streets.

The trucks also are equipped with onboard computers that allow the company to track them on their routes. If they miss a stop or are running late, their supervisor knows about it.

Despite the carefully crafted strategy and expensive equipment, Sorensen says the garbage game is deceptively simple.

"At the end of the day, it's garbage, and people don't give it a lot of thought," Sorensen said. "People think, 'You know, you're at my door, and you can save me a couple of bucks. Sure, I'll sign up.' "

Nick Woltman can be reached at 651-228-5189. Follow him on Twitter at @nickwoltman.